How Entrepreneurs Can Change Their Business With More And Better Sleep

Staying healthy has never been so popular. As an entrepreneur today, I know I care more than ever before about the quality of my food as well as the way it is prepared; I’m even willing to pay extra to eat healthier or even contribute more time to food preparation myself. This healthy trend doesn't stop with food - gyms and cross-fit classes are full everywhere I go. More people are taking up running as their regular exercise or choose cycling as their means of daily commute. You’ll see me at the gym 6 days a week, at 4:30 am. Or maybe you won’t because that is pretty early for a lot of people.

In either case, all these trends are a step towards even healthier living. However, there is more to a healthy lifestyle than quality food and exercise - sleep. It is an important ingredient often overlooked in people’s daily routines even though it greatly contributes to your well-being as an entrepreneur. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, insufficient sleep is a public health problem. Lack of sleep results in lowered performance and judgement, decreased alertness and in the long-term can cause depression, obesity and diabetes.

Entrepreneurs are especially prone to sleep loss. With long and often unpredictable working hours, travel or even jet-lag, we frequently lose more than a few hours of sleep.

Even though it is difficult to limit myself as an entrepreneur to a regular 9-5 schedule, there are ways to improve my sleeping habits. Here are some ways I’ve found to do that:

Use power naps to boost your energy

The National Sleep Foundation (NFS) recommends 7-9 hours of sleep a day for people between 18 - 64 years old. Most of us don’t get that amount of sleep every day. If you find yourself juggling your schedule - running between meetings, business lunches and airports - and you can’t find time for a long, good night’s sleep, try to schedule a short power nap in your day. The research by NFS shows even a short 20 min nap can increase your alertness, performance and mood. Some of the most prominent figures in our history such as Winston Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt and Thomas Edison took pride in taking a nap every day.

According to the 2011 study from the Journal of Sleep, the lack of proper sleep cost U.S. businesses around $63 billion in lost productivity. Many companies, including Google and PwC, noticed the great benefits of taking a nap during the day and installed sleeping pods for their employees to recharge their energy. It might not always be easy to find a nap pod, but a sofa in your office or comfortable armchair in an airport lounge can do the trick.